There’s not a lot of shake up in this week’s QB rankings, There are however plenty of quarterbacks among the top twenty who were overlooked on draft day and through much of the season. In fact, there’s a decent chance that you’ll still be able to find one of these top 20 still on your league’s waiver wire. There are 3 games on tap for Thursday this week, so we’ll have all of the rankings out in time to set your lineups well before the first kickoff on Thanksgiving Day.

Keep in mind that the power rankings, listed here, are based on year to date performance and not a reflection of your best options for week 13. Just below the power rankings are match up previews advising who should be better or worse than usual this week, based on their opponents. At the bottom, are the week 13 start rankings, that’s where you should look for help with your week 13 lineup decisions.

And here are the week 13 Fantasy QB start rankings; it’s all 32 projected starters in the order that you should consider them this week. They were gotten using the Fantasy Flavor secret formula, and have their formulary numbers in parentheses, the lower the better. We’ll get all of the positional rankings out to you in time for Thursday’s games, so keep checking back for the rest.

1. Tony Romo (9)

2. Jay Cutler (17)

3. Phillip Rivers (24)

4. Drew Brees (30)

5. Kurt Warner (30)

6. Donavan McNabb (31)

7. Brett Favre (32)

8. Shaun Hill (33)

9. Chad Pennington (33)

10. Peyton Manning (34)

11. Aaron Rodgers (35)

12. Matt Ryan (37)

13. David Garrard (41)

14. Tyler Thigpen (42)

15. Trent Edwards (44)

16. Jeff Garcia (46)

17. Matt Cassel (47)

18. Joe Flacco (47)

19. Eli Manning (49)

20. Kerry Collins (56)

21. Ben Roethlisberger (57)

22. Kyle Orton (60)

23. Jason Campbell (63)

24. Sage Rosenfels (64)

25. Jake Delhomme (70)

26. Marc Bulger (70)

27. Gus Frerotte (71)

28. JaMarcus Russell (72)

29. Matt Hasselbeck (77)

30. Ryan Fitzpatrick (83)

31. Brady Quinn / Derek Anderson (88)

32. Daunte Culpepper / Drew Stanton (92)

All of the rankings will be up in time for you to get your Thursday lineups in, so keep checking back. You can use the links below to check all of the other positions; they’ll be activated as they become available.

Just for the sake of making everything easier, I’ve decided to post the week 12 Fantasy Start Rankings for all 6 positions in one place. It’s the same start rankings that you can find on the bottoms of each of the Positional Power Rankings for week 12. You can locate those power rankings by using the links at the bottom of this page too.

Listed below are the formulary start rankings for each of the 6 positions, with their formulary number listed in parentheses next to them. The formulary rankings are gotten using the “secret fantasy flavor formula”, it’s basically 2 parts player performance, 1 part defensive expectations against them this week, with a few variables thrown in for injuries and anomalies.

As news becomes available over the course of the weekend, I’ll make notes here too, so keep checking back. And at the end of the day, trust your gut, and have fun. That’s why we play the games after all anyway. And good luck to you this week as the playoffs approach.

QUARTERBACKS

1. Peyton Manning (15) @SD

2. Aaron Rodgers (21) @ NO

3. Jay Cutler (22) vs. OAK

4. Tony Romo (22) vs. SF

5. Kurt Warner (29) vs. NYG

6. Shaun Hill (31) @ DAL

7. Brady Quinn (31) vs. HOU

8. Drew Brees (35) vs. GB

9. Eli Manning (36) @ AZ

10. Phillip Rivers (40) vs. IND

11. Matt Cassel (40) @ MIA

12. Kyle Orton (42) @ ST.L

13. Tyler Thigpen (43) vs. BUF

14. Gus Frerotte (43) @ JAX

15. Jeff Garcia (44) @ DET

16. Donavan McNabb (45) @ BAL

17. Jason Campbell (48) @ SEA

18. David Garrard (52) vs. MIN

19. Brett Favre (53) @ TEN

20. Chad Pennington (57) vs. NE

21. Sage Rosenfels (61) @ CLE

22. Kerry Collins (61) vs. NYJ

23. Matt Ryan (62) vs. CAR

24. Joe Flacco (64) vs. PHI

25. Jake Delhomme (68) @ ATL

26. Ben Roethlisberger (69) vs. CIN

27. JaMarcus Russell (70) @ DEN*about the same if it’s Walter or Tuisasopo

Here are this week’s Fantasy Flavor Quarterback Power Rankings for week 12. There wasn’t a lot of movement within the top ten, and at this point in the season, barring injury, there likely won’t be. The bottom half of the top 20 is full of upstarts, rookies and fill ins. Both Tony Romo and Kyle Orton returned to action, and to the top 20 this week, and Shaun Hill has worked his way in as well, and could prove to be a valuable stretch run addition.

Keep in mind that the power rankings, listed here, are based on year to date performance and not a reflection of your best options for week 12. Just below the power rankings are match up previews advising who should be better or worse than usual this week, based on their opponents. At the bottom, are the week 12 start rankings, that’s where you should look for help with your week 12 lineup decisions.

And here are the week 12 Fantasy QB start rankings; it’s all 32 projected starters in the order that you should consider them this week. They were gotten using the Fantasy Flavor secret formula, and have their formulary numbers in parentheses, the lower the better. We’ll get all of the positional rankings out to you in time for the Thursday night game, so keep checking back for the rest.

1. Peyton Manning (15)

2. Aaron Rodgers (21)

3. Jay Cutler (22)

4. Tony Romo (22)

5. Kurt Warner (29)

6. Shaun Hill (31)

7. Brady Quinn (31)

8. Drew Brees (35)

9. Eli Manning (36)

10. Phillip Rivers (40)

11. Matt Cassel (40)

12. Kyle Orton (42)

13. Tyler Thigpen (43)

14. Gus Frerotte (43)

15. Jeff Garcia (44)

16. Donavan McNabb (45)

17. Jason Campbell (48)

18. David Garrard (52)

19. Brett Favre (53)

20. Chad Pennington (57)

21. Sage Rosenfels (61)

22. Kerry Collins (61)

23. Matt Ryan (62)

24. Joe Flacco (64)

25. Jake Delhomme (68)

26. Ben Roethlisberger (69)

27. JaMarcus Russell (70) *about the same if it’s Walter or Tuisasopo

28. Trent Edwards (78)

29. Marc Bulger (78)

30. Ryan Fitzpatrick (81)

31. Daunte Culpepper (86)

32. Matt Hasselbeck (87)

All of the rankings will be up in time for you to get your Thursday’s lineups in, so keep checking back. You can use the links below to check all of the other positions; they’ll be activated as they become available.

As I wake this morning the Baltimore Ravens – and, yes, they used the word “Baltimore” before it was “comprehensive branding effort” – are 6-3 and could be in sole possession of first place in the AFC North if a series of positive events transpire later today at the Meadowlands and in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers host a desperate San Diego Chargers club coming east to play with their season in the balance.

No matter what, we’re gonna learn a lot about January today.

In my 13 years of fandom I’ve never seen a purple team this hard to read. Are they this good? Or were THEY that BAD?

I’m not really sure.

Here are the irrefutable facts:

• The Ravens have played nine games and have played eight of them well enough to win. That includes solid, representative efforts in Pittsburgh and here against the undefeated and “unstoppable” Tennessee Titans.
• The Ravens played one of the biggest turds in the history of the franchise in Indianapolis and any horse player might “throw this one out” if they can legitimately run with the New York Football Giants.
• Their only wins have come at the expense of the likes of the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders – the literal dregs of the league and darlings of next April’s NFL Draft.
• The road has been far from a nuisance for rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, who after appearing to have been playing the rope-a-dope in that game against the Colts, has rebounded nicely with huge efforts in Miami, Cleveland and Houston.
• The injuries have mounted – Kelly Gregg, Chris McAlister, Marshal Yanda and Dawan Landry are all done for the season – and the “next man up” has gotten the job done. Winning teams do that!
• The team has a rookie head coach, a rookie quarterback, a rookie left tackle and aging players at a variety of positions from wide receiver to defensive line to middle linebacker and week after week they’ve brought impressive moxie to the field no matter the circumstance. The secondary has been ravaged but is still percolating and when the front seven brings the heat this is a 3-and-out waiting to happen.
• They know how to come back from behind on the road as was witnessed in Cleveland, where they effectively ended their bitter division rival’s playoff aspirations on Halloween weekend.
• And finally, the Giants are 8-1. So let’s just assume they’re pretty good.

These are the facts. But how this game sets up is anyone’s guess.

The Giants are a prohibitive favorite. The weather is slated to be kinda chilly at 49 degrees. And we’re taking 57 purple WNST fans up to the game via the “Miller Lite Roadtrips.”

The rest is why we take the video camera…

Will the Ravens defense shut down the Big Blue running game – Earth, Wind and Fire – which leads the league in rushing?

Will Rex Ryan’s blitz packages get after Eli Manning or will the Giants solid offensive line give him their signal caller a chance to exploit a depleted secondary?

And how will No. 5 fare up the Turnpike from his home in New Jersey as the Giants disguise packages and send the blitz of Justin Tuck and company?

This is why I love football.

Can the Ravens go into the Meadowlands and defeat the reigning World Champions today?

That’s what we’re all wondering…

The bus leaves at 7 a.m.

Casey Willett, Drew Forrester and I will all be at the Meadowlands.

Blogs, stories, videos and hopefully, a victory, will be coming back with us.

Comments Off on Beating the Giants would make Ravens a legit force in AFC

We’re really starting to see where the power lies now when it comes to quarterbacks. All of last week’s top 9 remained there, with a slight bit of scrambling within the ranks. Injuries have kept the waiver wire hot for owners not fortunate enough to have one of the top 5 or 6, or not willing to part with the talent necessary to trade for one.

There’ll be more of the same this week, with at least 3 quarterbacks likely to be available on your waiver wire worthy of consideration. That’s good news too, if you’ve been getting by with those in the bottom half of this week’s power rankings.

Remember that we’re listing 3 separate areas of evaluation in each Positional Power Rankings blog. The power rankings, listed first, are a year to date assessment of the top 20 at each position. Under those, are listings advising who should be a little bit better or worse than usual, based on their match up this week. And finally, at the bottom of each blog is the formulary start rankings, which is gotten using the “Secret Fantasy Flavor Formula”. It’s two parts year to date performance, one part opponents’ defensive performance, with adjustments for injuries, anomalies, and playing time changes.

Remember, none of this is gospel. If it were that easy, it wouldn’t be fun to play the games. With that said, we’re very proud of our track record so far, and suggest that you use these and as many other resources as you can find, in order to formulate your own opinions. After all, it’s you who has to live with your lineup decisions.

Remember that the power rankings listed here are a reflection of year to date performance only, and not an inducement of who to start this week. Check the list at the bottom of the column for this week’s start rankings.

And here are the week 11 Fantasy QB start rankings; it’s all 32 projected starters in the order that you should consider them this week. They were gotten using the Fantasy Flavor secret formula, and have their formulary numbers in parentheses, the lower the better. We’ll get all of the positional rankings out to you in time for the Thursday night game, so keep checking back for the rest.

I’ll make sure to get all of the Positional Rankings out in time to help with your Thursday night lineup decisions. Use the links below for the other positions. If they’re not active yet, keep checking back.

It’s certainly an interesting week for fantasy quarterbacks here in week 10. As we enter the second half of the season and the beginning of Thursday games, it’s important to remember to temper your offensive expectations when players are coming back on the very short week. This is especially true when your players are the ones traveling for the Thursday games too, so watch out this week, Cutler owners.

Good news and bad news if you are dealing with a quarterback bye this week. The bad news is, if your QB is on bye it means that you’ve tied your hopes to Jeff Garcia, Jason Campbell, Brad Johnson or Ryan Fitzpatrick, for that I am truly sorry. The good news is there should be plenty of options to choose from on the waiver wire this week, as 12 of 28 starters this week (43%) weren’t starters to begin the season, and several of the remaining entrenched starters who weren’t considered viable on draft day could line up nicely as sleeper picks too.

Remember that the power rankings listed here are a reflection of year to date performance only, and not an inducement of who to start this week. Check the list at the bottom of the column for this week’s start rankings.

And here are the week 10 Fantasy QB start rankings; it’s all 28 projected starters in the order that you should consider them this week. They were gotten using the Fantasy Flavor secret formula, and have their formulary numbers in parentheses, the lower the better. We’ll get all of the positional rankings out to you in time for the Thursday night game, so keep checking back for the rest.

Every game is a battle it seems in today’s NFL, and struggling teams prove week after week that unless the better teams bring their best games, lesser teams will give them all that they can handle. Therefore, to say that the Ravens are in the midst of the easy part of their schedule would clearly be a disservice to the Dolphins, Raiders, Browns and Texans. Never the less, this is the part of the schedule where the Ravens will have to fatten their record if they hope to be a playoff contender in the waning weeks of this season.

It seems to be the popular opinion this season that the Ravens may have the most difficult schedule in their short history to deal with. Surely when most factored in the rookie quarterback, rookie head coach, and the young offensive line, in the face of that intimidating schedule, their expectations were realistically modest.

As daunting as the schedule looked however, it also had the potential, and still does, to be equally as cruel. Cruel in the way, that it has the potential to raise your expectations as a fan and then drop them just as quickly. Opening the season against the Bengals and Browns, and even the Texans if they had to play that one on schedule, provided the Ravens with opponents who could be beaten by the defense, with little pressure on the young and growing offense. Playing with Pittsburgh and Tennessee, and even controlling them for most of those games gave fans additional reasons to be hopeful.

The loss to the Colts, and a passing offense that had struggled to that point, sent expectations crashing right back to earth it seemed. That was after all, their third loss in a row, and outplaying their opponents in two of them could be looked at as a source of pride or a source of frustration. In the wake of the drubbing by the Colts, it felt a lot like frustration from here.

After all of that though, the four game stretch that the team finds themselves in the middle of now, looked like a chance to get back to respectability and become a factor in the AFC North before having to run the gauntlet of the NFC East in addition to Pittsburgh and Jacksonville as the season winds to a close. Thereby bringing about the very real possibility that the hopes of the fans are lifted and crushed once again. Since the Ravens have taken care of business in the first half of that stretch, they appear to be right on course. But the events of the last couple of weeks have changed things dramatically for the Ravens, and this week’s match up suddenly looks a lot more difficult than we may have thought just a few weeks ago.

I have, for a long time held onto the belief that although it has been my distinct pleasure as a Ravens fan to have witnessed a number of superstars, and hall of famers on the field for this team, that maybe the most important of all, and probably the most underrated of all has been Chris McAlister. Shut down corners are probably the most rare and valuable commodity in the entire league, and in McAlister, the Ravens have enjoyed that luxury for most of the last decade.

I remember the early days of the franchise, when they were night and day different from the Ravens that we have grown to know and love. Once upon a time, the Ravens had an offense that could seemingly go up and down the field with anyone. The problem with that team was that seemingly any team could go up and down the field themselves, on the Ravens’ defense.

Don’t get me wrong, Ray Lewis has been worth the price of admission since the day he stepped onto the field at Memorial Stadium, Peter Boulware made a pretty special impact early on too. Another favorite of mine from the early days was Ralph Staten, he never amounted to much and got into some trouble, back when the Ravens just couldn’t tolerate any bad PR, but he was a huge hitter back in the Memorial Stadium days.

With all of that said though, they were just a few guys who were fun to watch, as long as the team has DeRon Jenkins and Antonio Langham patrolling the corners, their defense was nonexistent. The Ravens became a dominant defense when Chris McAlister stepped on the scene, and since that time, as Chris McAlister goes, so go the Baltimore Ravens.

This is not to say that McAlister has been the perfect Raven by any means. Injuries are what they are, and every team and player has to deal with them at one time or another. When McAlister has been injured, the Ravens have suffered from it. We’re talking about a defensive system that has made stars of sixth round draft choices and undrafted free agents. A team that plugged in Ed Hartwell for the greatest linebacker of all time and barely missed a beat and a defense that has now seen four of its former coaches rise to the ranks of head coach. Yet anytime they’ve had to play without McAlister for a prolonged stretch, they’ve gone in the tank. They stunk before he arrived, and have been dominant pretty much ever since.

Injuries haven’t been McAlister’s only problem. He has a reputation for being physical that seems to preceded him at times with officials, he’s always seemed to attract a lot of flags, both during, and after the plays. And perhaps most frustrating to fans, and possibly the reason for the situation that he currently finds himself in, is at times he just seems disinterested in football. Obviously that’s something that you have to deal with if you hope to be successful as a team.

Whatever is going on between McAlister and Harbaugh and Rex Ryan or whoever, we can bet that we only know a small piece of it, and it will likely stay that way. The speculation at this point seems to be whether or not McAlister is done for the season, and possibly, ultimately as a Raven altogether. Whatever happens next, it’s a safe bet that the future of this defense hangs in the balance.

Not knowing enough about what’s gone on up to this point, it’s tough for me to pick a side, or a winner in this battle between coach and player. So far, the team hasn’t seemed to miss a beat in McAlister’s absence. So far though, they’ve faced the mighty Dolphins receiving corps of Ted Ginn Jr., Greg Camarillo and Derek Hagan and the powerful Raiders threats of a shell of JaVon Walker’s old self, and Chaz Schilens, Ronald Curry and Johnnie Lee Higgins. That’s not to mention that Chad Pennington and JaMarcus Russell were the ones throwing the ball. I’d imagine if there was an ideal time to phase in Frank Walker, that two game stretch was it.

Now the second half of the “get fat” stretch of the Ravens schedule suddenly looks a little more daunting. Match ups against seemingly bad teams in Cleveland and Houston suddenly highlight glaring match up problems with the likes of Braylon Edwards, Donte Stallworth and Kellen Winslow, followed by Andre Johnson, Kelly Walter and Owen Daniels. And things won’t get any easier from there.

Whatever the final outcome of the McAlister situation is, it’s likely that Harbaugh will get the benefit of the club’s support. We’ll see if he comes out a winner though. Although McAlister has been out for the last two games, for my money, life without C-Mac officially begins this week. We’ll see if Harbaugh and the Ravens defense are up to the task.

There’s a great scene from “White Men Can’t Jump” in which the character played by Wesley Snipes is trash-talking after a playground basketball game and one of the guys who just beat him says, “you’re talking a whole lotta yang for somebody that just got busted!”

Kind of reminds me of this week in the world of the Baltimore Ravens.

There are some guys talking a whole lotta yang…for a team that produced 5 wins last year and is 3-3 right now, not to mention a team that’s two weeks removed from a 31-3 visit to the proctologist in Indianapolis.

This week’s two foot-in-mouth sideshows are, of course, Chris McAlister and Terrell Suggs.

McAlister and Coach John Harbaugh are locked in a daily war of words in which each guy tries to say as many nice things as he can about the other while all the time saying it through gritted teeth. It’s an easy read, because both men obviously don’t like one another and try as they might, they can’t hide it very well. McAlister thinks it’s funny right now, because he knows in the next six weeks, his play and his effectiveness will go a long way in deciding the fate of the Ravens’ season.

In the end, though, the final chapter will not be pretty for McAlister.

He’s going to lose this battle. A year ago, players popped off on radio shows, disparaged the coach, the quarterback and other players on the team. Last year, the issue was: “Fire the coach, he’s lost control of the players…”

A year later, what we’re seeing (again) very clearly is that the coach actually CAN’T control some of the team’s ramblers. John Harbaugh is finding this fact out firsthand: football players are football players…they are NOT wordsmiths. They are not guys you want in control of your team’s “message to the fans”. And, generally, they’d all be better served saying less and playing harder.

Harbaugh stumbled a bit with his public claim that Chris McAlister’s benching in Miami wasn’t tied into discipline, but in the same moment that he’s trying to get #21 under control, he’s also trying to figure out a way to not piss him off enough that McAlister throws in the towel with ten weeks to go. That’s a tough task.

Last year, when the players said, “we’d prefer a different coach”, the Owner buckled at the last minute and delivered them a late Holiday gift.

This year, the space beneath their tree will be bare.

Harbaugh’s going to sort out the miscreants and the guys who don’t fit in with what he’s trying to do. And he has that right, because he’s the coach. And it’s not all Harbaugh, either. Rex Ryan has no doubt grown tired of McAlister’s schtick. And I’m sure he’d prefer that Suggs not speak to the media anymore – because on virtually every occasion that he does, issues are created that impact others on his defense.

Speaking of Suggs, here’s a guy who is on TAPE saying he thinks some of the players might have packed it in for the season if they wouldn’t have won in Miami – then rages on about being “misquoted” when, in fact, that’s HIS voice and HIS words. Yeah, those tape recorders in front of you really DO work, Siz.

This week, not happy enough to brag about his own great performance in Miami, Suggs blathered on about wanting Troy Smith to be the starting quarterback instead of Joe Flacco. The day after the Indy game would have been the day to launch into “play-Troy-Smith” mode, not the day after Flacco goes 17-for-23 in Miami and helps the team snap a 7-game road losing streak. Once again, GREAT football player…but not a candidate for a doctorate in rational thinking.

And a few weeks back after that flimsy “blow to the head” call against T-Siz that basically cost the Ravens a win over the Titans, 55 barked about how the league has it out for the Ravens and casts a “bad boy” image on the team when maybe it’s undeserved. Two days ago, Siz bragged on a national radio show about the team having a “bounty” out for two members of the Steelers when the teams played in Pittsburgh in week #4. Hmmm…I wonder where the refs get this “bad boy” image from?

Some around town are saying it’s time Ray Lewis steps in and gets the locker room in order. Why? No one in the locker room ever has to get Ray in order…why is it every time someone steps out of line it’s Ray’s job to get them straightened out? Why should he try to talk sense into McAlister or Suggs? Neither one of them would listen anyway.

Football folks are predicting an implosion if these locker room antics continue. I’m not sure about that. Losing would cause that, for certain. But if the team wins the next two games and gets to mid-season at 5-3, these antics will merely be white noise for an unexpected second half playoff run. Winning is a better distraction than a disgruntled player who is at odds with his coach.

But – and there’s always a but with some of these can’t-stand-prosperity-types – John Harbaugh does have issues on his table that will not go away between now and the first time snow hits the ground in Baltimore.

For better or worse, he’s publicly embarrassed Chris McAlister now. Saying, “we’re using our best 11 players” is the ultimate kick-in-the-nads to #21. There’s no apology or man-hug that will make up for that, particularly when you’re dealing with an up-and-down-personality like CMac.

And at some point, probably after a loss, Suggs is a 90% bet to say something dumb about Flacco and throw in an “I told you Smith should be playing” quote that will fill three days worth of talk radio. All that will do is give Harbaugh another exercise in taming the beast that is your “franchise player”.

I like what John Harbaugh has done so far this year. Changing the locker room around…practicing harder…preaching the team concept…and winning 3 of his first 6 games doesn’t hurt, either. What he’s going through now is no different than what a substitute teacher goes through in December when he or she replaces the old teacher who left on maternity leave. The kids test the new guy. They see what they can get away with and what they can’t. Except in this case, some of the stunts being pulled right now are just redundant chapters in “Football in the NFL for Dummies”.

Harbaugh is different than Billick, no doubt.

There will always be players who like it some other way. That’s their nature, plain and simple.

-The Chris McAlister saga will continue to roll on, as McAlister spoke with the media and commented on the situation which you can see in my previous blog. Coach Harbaughreemphasized today that playing time has nothing to do with discipline. It is simply they are putting the best 11 guys on the field against the Raiders. McAlister does in fact appear on the injury report this week, which you can scroll down to see.

– Buddy Ryan the father of Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan and Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan will be at the game on Sunday.

-JaMarcus Russell was a big topic of discussion with several of the defensive players today. Trevor Pryce, Terrell Suggs, and Haloti Ngata all talked about how big and strong Russell is and how you have to wrap him up to get him down. Pryce mentioned that the thing you have to do when you get to Russell is ask him to lie down so you can get the sack. Suggs is concerned that he might get shrugged off if he gets to him and goes for a sack. Ngata pointed out that a big thing with Russell is that he will dump off passes to the running backs when you get to him and that is a dangerous thing. All of the guys compared sacking Russell to trying to sack Ben Roethlisberger, very difficult. Suggs compared sacking Russell to trying to sack Trevor Pryce.

– Jonathan Ogden who will be going into the Ravens Ring of Honor on Sunday, will be introduced with the team on Sunday.

– Terrell Suggs said early that he thought Troy Smith should be starting for the Ravens. Now Suggs has said ” I thought the question was about multiple packages. I said both quarterbacks should get a chance to play, like running back Ronnie Brown depending on the package. Joe is 3-3 as the starter and has done a good job. It’s not like we haven’t won any games.”

Suggs also has had controversy come up with his comments about a bounty on Hines Ward. Here is his response to that, ” there wasn’t any bounty. The reporter asked me if there was a bounty and I just said I’m going to keep a watch on the guy. He broke some guy’s jaw last week, and he tried to cheap shot Jarrett Johnson. He also cheap-shotted Ed Reed. We’re just going to be on alert the next time we play him. It’s like the guy in your neighborhood who always pulls your shorts down and your drawers show, well, you always have to be on the lookout. You have to be alert.”

Suggs has always been a media friendly guy, but I can not imagine these type comments set well with the new coaching regime

The Ravens report back to practice again today in preparation for the Oakland Raiders this Sunday.

The team is 3-3, far ahead of where many thought they’d be before the season began and are even about to go through the “soft spot” on their schedule with Oakland, Cleveland and Houston in the headlights. With a little luck, they could be 6-3 or 5-4 going up to the Meadowlands on Nov. 16th to play the defending World Champs. (BTW: Yes, seats are still available on our Miller Lite bus trip that day!)

So, what the Ravens and head coach John Harbaugh need least in the world right now is a player controversy. But, it appears, as long as Chris McAlister is on the team that won’t happen.

The team has now stated its “official” position on McAlister: he’s not one of the three best cornerbacks on the roster. He’s been demoted based on his “on field” play alone.

Personally, I find that hard to accept. But as one member of the organization said yesterday, “Did you see the Colts game? Did you see Marvin Harrison torch him?”

There are more rumors and opinions on McAlister’s personality, habits, activities and his decisions than I could list here. Most of you know about the marijuana allegations, the drinking allegations, the San Diego sendoff by Brian Billick, etc. And by now the story of three interesting young ladies who pranced out the front door of the team’s Miami hotel last weekend near the team bus is public record. (BTW: McAlister told the team they were just there for breakfast to pick up game tickets and the Ravens actually bring Baltimore police officers to guard each floor and unlike Billick, Harbaugh’s pre-game bed check is military quality.)

But the team’s position is this: “He’s not playing well. This has nothing to do with punishment. He got exposed. Fabian Washington and Frank Walker are playing better so they’ll play. Chris McAlister is No. 3 on the depth chart.”

But there’s obviously more here than meets the eye and the Ravens must believe they’re eliminating a distraction more than causing one. They maintain that they told McAlister last Wednesday that he’d be seeing less of the turf in Miami.

McAlister has had a hard time with authority from the very beginning. And Harbaugh, or “Hard Ass” as many of the players are finding out, knows that the ultimate way to punish a player is to not play him.

The message is clear: “Get better, work harder or you won’t play for me!” So much for bruised pride and strong egos.

When Samari Rolle is on the field, most teams will attack him first. Ditto Frank Walker.

So when Peyton Manning went after McAlister 10 days ago in Indianapolis and torched him, it apparently caused Rex Ryan to rethink the back end of the Ravens defense. Some thought the second TD was “a play a high school player should make.”

Apparently, some of his own teammates have lost their faith in him and don’t trust him on edge. (Players and teammates have had derogatory things to say about McAlister’s attitude and work ethic for years so this isn’t some shocking revelation.)

The Ravens have been very clear and quick to say this is an “on the field” demotion, having nothing to do with his off-the-field antics or decisions.

For the record, I don’t buy that, either.

If McAlister misses meetings or shows up late or chooses not to hit the gym (another rumor is that CMac doesn’t like going into the gym), Harbaugh and the organization can fine him under NFLPA guidelines. The fines could then lead to a suspension that would cost him real money.

But ultimately, Harbaugh’s strongest card is to say: “You’re not playing!”

But the scuttlebutt is that this was more defensive coordinator Rex Ryan’s decision. And, honestly, most coaches care more about winning than they do about the feelings of a mercurial 31-year old cornerback whose teammates question his dedication to football, the team and winning.

Harbaugh’s battle cry from the first press conference has been, “Team, team, team.”

Clearly, he and Ryan think the team is better with CMac on the pine. Right now,
Fabian Washington and Frank Walker are first-teamers.

One more quote from another member of the Ravens organization:

“If he were acting and playing like the Pro Bowler we think he is and we’re paying him to be, he’d be on the field.”

It’s only Week 7 for the Ravens. This will be interesting, seeing if the team can consistently win with Washington and Walker, or whether McAlister is willing to work hard enough and swallow his pride to get back on the field.